


the other brother

by nyoengland



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EM I LOVE U, M/M, canada: i must destroy that damn shower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 10:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14616022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyoengland/pseuds/nyoengland
Summary: There was a particular reason why Matthew preferred his friends - or in case, crush - to not be aware of Alfred's existence until the last possible moment.





	the other brother

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ein_Nachkussen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ein_Nachkussen/gifts).



> so this is an (early?) birthday present to emily!! it's an old WIP of a prompt we talked about, so i wanted to finish it for her. 
> 
> thanks for putting up with me for a year;; here's to more obnoxious prucan/alfred and youtube videos haha. xx

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Arthur asked, green eyes glittering behind his thick frames - or was it just Matthew’s imagination? “I mean, it’s quite late and all…I can come back if you’d like. Brothers can be a pain in the arse…”

“Oh, Arthur, really, there’s no need to worry about Al,” Matthew said, internally doing a happy dance with the amount of attention his roommate and _very_ secret crush was giving him. “He’s just a big, sweater loving dork. He won’t bomb the bathroom or anything.”

“Well, good,” Arthur said, fishing for his keys hung up with a crude string near the door. “I bought a new bottle of shampoo the other day. I’ll be back by nine - call me if there’s an accident or my Amazon purchase, right?”

“Don’t get so drunk with the Bad Friends Trio!” Matthew shouted after him, and with that the door clicked and Matthew was left to recline on his swivel chair, face red and mouth fixed in a stupidly happy smile.

“Oh, he was so _worried_ about me,” he sang to himself, fiddling with the stray curl at the side of his face.

* * *

When Alfred entered the room, it seemed as if the sun had made its own cocky entrance, obnoxious American ‘charm’ and sunglasses and Vans and all.

“Were you too busy picking up girls to bother showing up on time?” Matthew teased - he had just finished taking his shower and had been internally debating whether to shave the fuzz of his beard that cupped his chin like a turtleneck. “Surely your frat house isn’t that far.”

“I moved in with Gil and Matthias,” Alfred interjected, slinging down his backpack to reveal four cans of Coke. “Peace offering?”

“ _Only_ four cans, and they’re Coke? There better be a roast chicken in there as well,” Matthew snarked, but gave his brother a hearty pat on the back. “Settle in, my roommate’s out. He’s going out clubbing tonight.”

“Clubbing, eh? Seems like a guy who _actually_ knows how to have fun,” Alfred teased, slinging down his bag in their tiny kitchen. “Catch.”

“Don’t know, if he comes back earlier you might get to,” Matthew said nonchalantly, internally hoping that Arthur would get tipsy after his first sip and Francis would see _some_ common sense and bring him home. Then he could find an excuse to kick Alfred out. Could his brother get drunk on Coke?

“What’s he like?”

“Brit - no, English,” Matthew said, stopping once he remembered how picky Arthur was about the term. “He has thick eyebrows, a potty mouth…uh, he’s probably dating his Kindle…he’s the king of losing things…he has really nice eyes…”

“Aww, that’s cute,” Alfred grinned, thumbing open his can with a _pop_. “You into him or something?”

“N-No!” Matthew cried, his cheeks pinking. “He’s a better roommate than you ever were. He knows how to make the bed.”

“Are _these_ your standards? You’re weird, Matt, anyone can make their bed,” Alfred grinned, sitting on his chair and moving Matthew’s mouse so his computer sprung lazily to life. “Okay, the password’s maplebutter if I remember - _a ha_! Oh man, is this why you’re not going out tonight?”  
  
“Alfred, that is _private_ \- no, don’t close that tab,” Matthew huffed as his brother tried to close his browser. “Not all of us on this godforsaken world is a kid living on a sports scholarship.”

“You’re welcome!” Alfred beamed, taking another long, languid sip before looking back at the screen. “Uh, Matt, you might want to see this. Some guy called Francis texted you something.”

“Oh?” Matthew said, pushing all the muscle that was in his chair away as he squinted at the screen. “Oh. You might get to meet Arthur, after all. He doesn’t seem to be in the mood for booze tonight.”

“Arthur, huh? That’s a pretty cute name,” Alfred said. “What happened?”

“He put five packs of mixed nuts on Francis’s tab while he was flirting with a curtain or something,” Matthew sighed, shutting the lid of his laptop. “Anyway, you’d better take a shower. Doubt you have in the last twenty four hours. I’d want you to at least make a decent impression on him.”

“What, are you that embarrassed of your sports star brother?”

“Christ, fuck off,” Matthew snorted, rustling his hair - but pulled back almost immediately. “For the love of God tell me you’ve washed your hair within these past hundred and twenty hours.”

“Guilty as charged,” Alfred sang. “Can I borrow your towel?”

“Don’t forget the bleach for my hand!”

 

* * *

“Honestly, I don’t understand _why_ he was complaining,” Arthur groaned, loosening his tie to Matthew’s slight disappointment - he looked so good with it! “I wasn’t getting piss drunk on his tab like usual, so…”

“I suppose Francis might have failed with his flirting and got angry, eh?” Matthew laughed, and subconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. “He needs to maintain his casanova image.”

“Bleeding frog…barely got to finish my fifth pack as well,” Arthur muttered. “Although…has your brother left? Given you any trouble?”

“Well, he was showering a moment ago actually,” Matthew said, tilting his head to face their bathroom. “I hope he hasn’t used much of your shampoo…”

“That’s not your fault,” Arthur began, but at that precise moment the door flung open to reveal a gust of steam and Alfred with just a towel wrapped around his waist, hair damp from perspiration.

Arthur’s mouth _dropped_ open.

“Hey, Matt, the shampoo was re-oh _hey_ ,” Alfred said, taking note immediately of Arthur standing in front of him. “You must be the roomie.”

“Y-Yes,” Arthur stuttered, eyes wide as he took in his brother. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet ya as well, cutie,” Alfred winked, and took his hand, the other one securing the towel around his waist. “The name’s Alfred. You’re Arthur, right?”

Matthew bristled - of _course_ his brother would put on the moves. Lord, he should have told him that he liked Arthur - the fool couldn’t read the atmosphere and surely wouldn’t have figured it out!

“Oh, Matthew must have introduced me…yes, that’s my name,” Arthur said, tongue tripping over his words as he took in the dog tags against that toned chest, almost something out of those romance books he’d stuffed his Kindle with…not like he’d ever admit to that or anything. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

“Yeah, it’ll be a pleasure, all right,” Alfred said huskily, causing Arthur’s cheeks to flame scarlet.

_Oh no_ , Matthew groaned. If he was alone (and had space) he would have sunk to his knees and shrieked to the heavens. No, no, no. Alfred Fuck Jones’s charms struck true again - and on his roommate as well? Cute, feisty, interesting, smart, handsome Arthur?

“You’re not making me attend your wedding,” Matthew sighed, and cut his losses and made a beeline from the bathroom while they were busy exchanging ‘do me’ looks.

 

* * *

_Five Years Later_

“No, screw your invitation, I’m not being your best man,” Matthew wailed, flinging the invitation onto the top of the fridge and mournfully reheating his pancakes. “It’s not _fair_.”

Yes, it was just a university puppy crush, but _damn_ , it hurt.

He would never make his brother take a shower ever again. 


End file.
